Harry dropped the puck for a ceremonial face-off ahead of the hockey game between the Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks at Rogers Arena on Monday night.
The Duke of Sussex and Markle were at the game as the lead-up to the 2025 Invictus Games, which will be held in Vancouver and Whistler from February 8 to February 16, 2025.
Harry is a Founding Patron of the Invictus Games Foundation, which offers a "recovery pathway for international wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women," as per the foundation's website.
Sportsnet reports that the closing ceremony will be held at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
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Ahead of Monday night's game, Harry walked onto the ice and dropped a ceremonial puck for the two captains, Quinn Hughes of the Canucks and Tomas Hertl of the San Jose Sharks.
According to Sportsnet, Hertl said he had to give some pointers to Harry in that moment.
"I actually had to tell him (to drop the puck) because he keeps holding and smiling," Hertl said.
"I'd say 'it's time to drop it' but it's a cool moment. For sure I will remember that one."
During the game Harry and Markle were seen cheering on the players from the stands.
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Both teams seem to think the royals were cheering for them, with the Canucks Twitter account tweeting the team had two new fans.
The San Jose Sharks also tweeted during the game with a side-by-side photo of the puck drop and a photo of Harry's mom, Princess Diana.
The ceremonial puck drop was a special moment for Harry, who followed in his grandmother's footsteps.
The late Queen Elizabeth II dropped the puck before an NHL game between the Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks in 2002, according to Hello!
B.C. is a special place for Harry and Markle as the couple lived on Vancouver Island with their son Archie for several months in 2020 after leaving the U.K.
Following their short time on the island, the couple moved to Los Angeles where they live now with their two kids.
Don't let the chilly winters fool you; Canada's home to some of the warmest and most welcoming people in the world. And there was nowhere better to see this than at the 2023 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage ClassicTM, where 100 new Canadians were treated to the ultimate NHL® experience.
Despite the friendly locals, it can be hard for newcomers to find connection and community when they arrive here. So Rogers decided to help out by taking them on a classically Canadian outing.
First up was an ice-skating session at Rogers Place, followed by a meet and greet with NHL alum Raffi Torres and Sportsnet's Harnarayan Singh. The day ended with top-notch seats at the beloved Heritage Classic for what was no doubt the first ice hockey game for many of Rogers' guests.
The day meant a great deal for Vladimir, who came to Canada from Ukraine with his wife, Zhanna.
"I just feel that hockey is a great part of Canada’s culture and I want to be a part of it," he told Rogers, adding that he has felt very welcomed by Canadians since arriving.
"We’ve just come from the Ukraine and we wanted Canadians to be aware that we are very thankful and grateful for your help, for your smile, for your support and for a lot of opportunities you give to immigrants like us."
Vladimir and Zhanna, like many other newcomers, were elated by their hockey experience from Rogers.
Vitoria and Mike, who moved to Canada from Brazil, felt similar.
"It’s the one thing we think that represents Canadian culture," said Vitoria. "We are excited about learning more about hockey and try to learn a little bit more myself, so we can teach our kids someday."
"Thank you Rogers for this amazing experience," she added. "We felt like Canadians today."
As one of Canada's top network providers, Rogers knows a thing or two about connecting people. And by offering unique experiences like this, Rogers is connecting Canadians — old and new — in more ways than one.
To learn more about how Rogers is connecting Canadians, visit their website or follow them on Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.
Lenard is an adorable miniature Bernedoodle and he lives a great life. You can follow along on many of his great adventures because he even has his own Instagram account with over 19,000 followers.
Lenard isn't just an influencer, he's also business-savvy. The pup is listed as the CEO of Kyle & Co. Design Studio in Edmonton, which is owned by McDavid's fiancée Lauren Kyle.
Kyle spoke with Narcity recently and we can confirm Lenard was at the office during the Zoom call (he was taking a nap break).
When speaking about her beloved pet, Kyle admitted the Bernedoodle is the one who gets more recognized when he's out with Kyle and McDavid.
"He's like the world's cutest dog, we're pretty biased, but he's very docile and calm," Kyle said.
"He's a superstar. He's the one that gets recognized. It's not Connor, it's usually Lenard."
Kyle also confirmed that Lenard will have a role in hers and McDavid's wedding in 2024 and will walk down the aisle with one of her maid of honours. We can't wait to see photos!
Between the two Instagram accounts, Zoë is often seen enjoying many activities, including fishing with the Toronto Maple Leafs star and going on road trips with Virtue.
"She's so sweet and so funny. She has a spunky little personality," Virtue said about Zoë during an interview with Narcity.
"She just wants to be right next to you at all times. She doesn't want to cuddle, she's not affectionate, but she wants to be right next to you at all times. She just brings so much love and joy into the house."
Virtue also revealed that her mom is currently fostering Zoë's brother so the two dogs are getting a chance to spend a lot of time together.
"It's really interesting to see them kind of bond and get to know each other but she's hysterically manipulative. She somehow finds a way to just get herself wedged between my mom's dog and whoever the human is," Virtue said with a laugh.
If you scroll through the Toronto Maple Leaf player's Instagram you'll see many photos of the chocolate lab happily hanging out with Marner and his wife Stephanie Marner.
The three-year-old Australian Bernedoodle, who has her own Instagram account, has also taken on big sister duties since the Demkos welcomed their son Dawson in August.
Cristina Sutter is a sports dietitian based in Vancouver who has worked with many NHL players, including the Vancouver Canucks team for 10 years, and she recently spoke to Narcity about what pro hockey players eat on a regular basis.
Sutter says nutrition is a "game changer" for professional hockey players because it's what fuels all their time on the ice.
"They have to play twice a day, every day, all season long. You have to have a full gas tank for that. You have to be able to recover and you have to be able to keep your speed and your power," she explained.
"Even after a late game you have to play again the very next morning (at practice) and so the only way to do that is with a really solid recovery nutrition plan."
That's why Sutter says NHLers need to consume a high amount of calories on game days and focus on the right foods to keep them going.
From what NHL players eat in a day, including right before a game, to how they stay hydrated, here's what Sutter had to say.
What do NHL players eat in a day?
During the season, NHL players will have a morning skate around 10 a.m. and their games are typically in the evening around 7 p.m. so nutrition is focused on fuelling those skate times, Sutter says.
Breakfast is typically eaten about two hours before a player's morning skate.
According to Sutter, breakfast is pretty standard with "toast and eggs, maybe oatmeal, a protein shake, a smoothie."
"They've [NHL players] gotten into the habit of more filling breakfasts. So there'd be a balance of carbohydrates and protein and not much fat there because they'd be skating right after."
Once the morning skate is done, the hockey players will have lunch next and Sutter says it's a meal that's heavy on the carbs with foods like pasta and rice.
"It wouldn't just be a sandwich. These guys are hungry, they're 185 pounds of muscle," the sports nutritionist said. "That lunch is going to be easily 1,000 calories."
Their pre-game "lucky foods," as Sutter calls them, are typically cereal, bagels, rice and pasta.
"That's all carbs and that's the main fuel that you need in hockey."
A nap follows lunch and then hockey players have their dinner or pre-game meal around 4 p.m.
"We would consider that a light dinner because you don't want to eat anything really heavy before you have to perform. So it would also be low in fat but lots of carbs because that's your main fuel for hockey. So it would be rice, toast, cereal, chicken, yogurt, fruit, peanut butter, that kind of stuff."
Hockey players need to recover almost immediately after a game, but Sutter says it's never the biggest meal of the day.
"We're always looking for 40 grams of carbs and a little bit of protein but mostly carbs. So that might be a smoothie, it might be a recovery shake, or it might be a [protein] bar or a sandwich."
The pregame meal happens around three hours before a game.
Sutter says NHLers do still eat a snack before getting on the ice to give them a "little boost of sugar energy to fuel those muscles."
"Fifteen minutes, [or] half an hour before the game, that's when they would have like a sport drink type product or something just with a lot of sugar. Drinks obviously get into your muscles faster so some of them prefer drinks, but some of them might have like a Clif Bar."
Do NHL players eat after a game?
Sutter says a hockey player's recovery meal after a game is super important. However that meal shouldn't be too heavy because the athlete's fuel typically comes before and during exercise. A post-game meal should therefore account for about 25% of the athlete's daily intake.
According to Sutter, NHLers will likely be refuelling with a smoothie or shake soon after getting off the ice. Then they'll have their dinner when they get onto the bus or plane.
"If they're lucky it might be sushi or something light or it might be like a hot meal," Sutter noted.
"We want a good balance between the carbs, the protein and veggies. If it's a home game, we can control it. We have a chef that would do a nice pasta option, rice option, chicken option, salad option. All super clean. But if they're travelling, then it's whatever can be organized as close as possible to that."
How many calories should a hockey player eat in a day?
Hockey players spend a lot of time on the ice during the NHL season so nutrition is key to ensure they have enough fuel to keep them going.
That means NHLers need to consume between 3,000 to 3,500 calories a day, Sutter says. That's much more than the 2,000 to 2,400 range recommended for the average Canadian.
Sutter says hydration can "make or break" the professional athletes because if they get dehydrated and their body temperature goes up even by 0.2 of a degrees, they can lose "all power and speed."
"They need to drink probably 750 millilitres to a litre per hour of a skate so they need to go through like two water bottles every game and practice," Sutter told Narcity.
The sport dietitian adds that at the NHL level, you would rarely see a hockey player drinking straight water. Instead they're drinking a lot of electrolytes and it's typically a brand called BioSteel.
"I would say 50 to 75% of them are having sport drinks so that would be Gatorade or [something] equivalent and that's to give you the carbohydrate fuel because your fuel stores will only last into second period. [In] third period your legs will crash if you don't have the sport drink to keep you going."
When it comes to caffeine, Sutter says some NHL players will opt to have an energy drink before a game to give them a boost of energy. However, she says energy drinks don't play a role in hydration.
"Water alone wouldn't be enough because they wear so much equipment," Sutter explained.
"When you sweat a lot and if you don't rehydrate your body temperature goes up and your muscles are fried, they can't work anymore. So the electrolytes in the sport drink work on that hydration piece."
As for who needs to drink the most, that would be the goalies who sweat twice as much as the players.
What do NHL players eat when travelling for games?
While travelling for games can be fun, Sutter says it can also be challenging in terms of ensuring the players eat the right kinds of meals.
"A lot of the time it might be something catered or from a restaurant and we try and make it as close to what a home-cooked meal would look like," she told Narcity.
"But it's hard to change the fact that many restaurants will make heavier foods and that can pose a challenge when they're [NHL players] travelling a lot."
What foods are NHL players told to avoid before a game?
Not every NHL team works with a sports nutritionist, but Sutter says there are some universal tips she would share with any player, especially when it comes to foods they should avoid.
The nutrition expert notes that fat takes between 12 to 16 hours to digest so a player doesn't want to have it in their system when they go out on the ice because it won't be available as a "fuel to [their] muscles."
"It would be punishing if you had French fries or pizza right before you played. You wouldn't want a big lasagna dish either, you would just feel like laying on the couch," Sutter said.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Tyler was selected by the Detroit Red Wings in the second round of the 2013 NHL Draft. He signed a two-year contract with the Red Wings in July 2021 before being traded to the Boston Bruins in March 2023.
The left winger signed a one-year, $5.5 million contract with the Maple Leafs on July 2, 2023.
Zhanna and Vladimir ice skating.
Vitoria and Mike.